Help with info on 拳法之大要八句

[DarrenJBaker]

Forum members:

 

I am looking into a poem that is famous among martial artists:

 

拳法之大要八句 or shortened to 拳法八句

 

I have a fair amount of material already but am wondering if anyone has heard of these verses being applicable outside of the martial arts, like idioms or something along those lines.

 

Wouldn't hurt if I had more martial information on these verses from Chinese perspectives either.  Any English information is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

DB

 

[DarrenJBaker]

Here is the poem:

 

人心同天地                               
血脈似日月                               
法剛柔吞吐                               
身随時応変                               
手逢空則入                              
碼進退離逢                              
眼要視四向                               
耳能聴八方                              
 

[imron]

I'm not sure if it's famous among martial artists, and a google search for the phrase seems to indicate it's from Karate, and appears to be a Japanese, rather than a Chinese poem.

 

This page (third google result for "拳法之大要八句", with the first being a facebook link and the second being this thread) explains the poem line by line.

[DarrenJBaker]

Indeed it is very popular with Okinawan based karate, particularly Gojuryu.

 

However, I have traced it to Chinese sources and have begun to investigate a few.  Unfortunately I am unfamiliar with the language.  I am following up on a rumor that it is applicable outside of the Martial arts in the same vein as idioms, proverbs, or perhaps colloquial expressions.

 

Thank you

DB

[Kobo-Daishi]

I'm not sure if it's famous among martial artists, and a google search for the phrase seems to indicate it's from Karate, and appears to be a Japanese, rather than a Chinese poem.

 

 

 

Didn't anyone watch "The Karate Kid"?

 

 

From Mr. Miyagi:

 

In Okinawa, all Miyagi know two things: fish and karate. Karate come from China, sixteenth century, called te, "hand". Hundred year later, Miyagi ancestor bring to Okinawa, call karate. "empty hand".

 

 

Mr. Miyagi (or Arnold from Happy Days) explains the history of karate in his stilted English. Actually, it was first called karate meaning "Tang (China) hand" before they changed it, to remove all references to China, to "empty hand". Something to do with WWII?

 

 

From the web page Imron has linked to above:

 

But Goju-ryu originates in the proverb "法は剛柔を呑吐す" (Hou wa go-ju o dondo su) in “eight principles about Kempou” recorded in the ancient military book “Bubushi” in old Okinawa.

 

 

Actually that should read "Bubishi" unless there is an old Okinawan book titled "bubushi".

 

The "poem" is supposedly found in the Bubishi or Wubei Zhi (武備志) which is a Ming Dynasty Chinese book considered "the most comprehensive military book in Chinese history" and "the longest book in Chinese history regarding military affairs".

 

In simplified Chinese it is written 武备志 as it is in modern Japanese.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubei_Zhi

 

Wubei Zhi (Chinese: 武備志; pinyin: Wǔbèi Zhì; Treatise on Armament Technology or Records of Armaments and Military Provisions) is the most comprehensive military book in Chinese history. It was edited by Mao Yuanyi (茅元儀 Máo Yuányí; 1594–1640?), an officer of waterborne troops in the Ming Dynasty. Wubei Zhi contains 240 volumes, 10405 pages, and more than 200,000 Chinese characters, which makes it the longest book in Chinese history regarding military affairs.[1]

 

 

The Wubei Zhi or Bubishi is considered the "Bible" of karate. In fact, there is a book titled "The Bible of Karate: Bubishi" by Patrick McCarthy that translates it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Karate-Patrick-McCarthy/dp/0804820155

 

From the Amazon blurb for "The Bible of Karate: Bubishi" by Patrick McCarthy:

 

 

Referred to as 'the bible of karate' by the famous master Miyagi Chojun, for hundreds of years The Bubishi was a secret text passed from master to student in China and later in Okinawa.

 

Practically all the early Okinawan and Japanese karate masters went to China to learn their stuff and more often than not to Fujian (Hokkien) province. That's why 武 is pronounced "bu" in Japanese. As they do in Minnan. There's that whole m/b dynamic going on. Why meiguo (America) is pronounced bi gok in Hokkien.

 

But, you ask Kobo, 武 "wu" doesn't start with an "m". It does in Yue dialects such as Cantonese (mou) and seiyap (MOUH) and in Sino-Korean "moo".

 

I tried finding the poem in online copies of Wubei Zhi (武備志) but they were either unsearchable pdfs or broken up into many pages. Too many for Kobo to wade through.

 

Kobo.

[DarrenJBaker]

So no info regarding its appearance in Chinese culture then?  I was hoping but figured it was a long shot (based on hearsay, afterall).  Still interested in any links to Chinese martial arts.

 

Thanks for the input,

DB

[imron]

So no info regarding its appearance in Chinese culture then?

I thought Kobo's post was quite informative.  Here's a post in Chinese discussing the book and here's an online version of the book itself.

[DarrenJBaker]

Thanks.